Ice Warm
by lilgreendesire
Summary: RemusHermione - 17 year old Remus knows he can’t risk falling in love; but when he does, is he just going to throw it all away and let Severus move in on the girl he likes?
1. Ice Warm

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Disclaimer: As far as I am aware…Ok, I'll rephrase…I definitely _don't_ own any if the rights to Harry Potter! The title is a song title by Inme

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Summary – A/N: Remus/Hermione with Severus involved too, but I won't give too much away! Unfortunately I only realised after writing three or four chapters that a few people have written fics with a similar setting, but hopefully there will be many different twists as far as the storyline is concerned. 

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Rating: Ok, this is PG-13 at the moment; I was going to make it an R, but I figured I might get a bit carried away, so PG-13 it is at the moment…;)!

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Ice Warm

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By Lil Blu Firefly

A seventeen-year-old Remus Lupin walked along the school corridor briskly, furrowing his eyebrows and trying to work out what he was in trouble for this time. As far as he was aware, he had not unwittingly participated in any of James or Sirius's pranks and he was up to date with his studies. The only other reason he could imagine, for Dumbledore to request him, would be to do with his monthly transformations, yet he knew that he had not harmed anyone recently.

He rounded the corridor to Dumbledore's office when Peeves leaped out in front of him, from behind a suit of armour.

"Has Loopy Lupin been a naughty boy?" he called out mockingly.

"Go away Peeves!" he retorted, agitated, but Peeves showed no signs of having listened. 

"Oooh, Loopy's got his panties in a twist this time!" Peeves chuckled gleefully. Remus however, ignored him, having thought of another possibility for his summons. Perhaps Dumbledore had finally realised that he had three unregistered animagi running loose around the school. Remus clenched his palms, which were sweating heavily, tightly. He approached Dumbledore's office, muttering the password to the gargoyle as he went, and knocked timidly on the door. 

"Come in, Remus," Dumbledore said lightly. The pull against Remus's chest lightened. Dumbledore certainly didn't sound angry. Hesitantly, he placed a hand on the door handle and pushed open the heavy wooden door into the office. 

Inside, Dumbledore was sitting quietly at his desk, his hands linked together, however, standing next to him was a girl with curly chestnut brown hair and piercing brown eyes. She let out a small gasp as she saw Remus enter, but was silenced by a pointed glance from the headmaster. Remus forced his eyes away from the girl and looked nervously at Dumbledore, who had an amused expression playing across his face.

"I trust you understand that I am speaking with you in the utmost confidence?" Dumbledore began. Remus nodded hastily.

"Yes sir." 

"Right, well then I see no reason not to begin," he said, smiling. "I would like to introduce you to Miss Hermione Granger," Dumbledore said, gesturing towards the girl, who was standing red-faced and staring at her shoes.

"I am afraid that there has been some sort of _accident_, with a time-travel method, and she has mistakenly emerged much earlier than planned." Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise at this, but Dumbledore simply continued. 

"We have not, as of yet, found a suitable method to return her to the correct time period, and so I have insisted that she continue with her studies as long as she remains here." Remus looked at Dumbledore, a confused expression playing across his face. 

"Ah, I suppose that you are wondering, of what service you will be Remus," Dumbledore said, as if reading his mind. "Well, one of the subjects which Miss Granger has chosen to study in her sixth year, has been Defence Against the Dark Arts. I was hoping that you would be able to assist her in her studies." 

Carefully, after flashing a glance at Hermione, he looked Dumbledore straight in the eye. 

"Are you sure that you have chosen the right person for this, sir?" he asked through gritted teeth. 

"I am well aware that there were two possible candidates to help her continue her studies, however, I was hoping that you might benefit from something else to do in your spare time," Dumbledore added, lowering his half moon spectacles in order to observe Remus's reaction.

Lupin fidgeted a bit, understanding perfectly well what the headmaster was implying. He knew that Dumbledore wanted him to spend less time involved with James, Sirius and Peter, however, he was sure that Dumbledore was avoiding the point on purpose. He glanced nervously at the girl again.

"I was thinking that maybe the _other_ candidate would have been more appropriate under the circumstances." Remus began helplessly, willing Dumbledore to acknowledge the point, before he gave too much away in front of a stranger. Remus couldn't understand why he would want to place a werewolf in the hands of a young girl. However, the headmaster simply surveyed him over the top of his glasses.

"I have the utmost confidence in your ability, Mr Lupin," he replied, "I do not doubt that you will take to the task admirably, _whatever the circumstances_." He said. At this point, he turned to Hermione who was still standing shock still in the corner of the room. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but she could have sworn that Dumbledore was now smiling at her, as if he suspected she already knew what had been meant by certain 'circumstances'. 

Remus, however, seemed to remain perturbed by the request and nervously nodded an acknowledgement to Hermione.

"So am I to understand that you have accepted the position Mr Lupin?" Dumbledore asked, smiling. Remus nodded slowly.

"Yes Sir."

"Right, well we'll see how it goes then. You may inform your counterparts that you are taking Arithmancy during the times you spend tutoring Miss Granger – I am aware that very few of your year have chosen such a subject," He added, allowing himself the smallest of grins, and rising from his desk.

"I will escort you to Miss Granger's rooms, so that you can become better acquainted." He said briskly, gesturing for them to follow him out of the office. Eventually, they came to a halt outside a door, which Hermione already knew as the room of requirement. Dumbledore appeared to rap on the door three times and mumble a password, before opening it. The room, however, was larger than Hermione had remembered it to have been, and even had an ensuite bathroom off of the bedroom at the back. As they walked into it, there was a lounge area, with comfy sofas and a fireplace, almost like a scaled down version of the Griffindor common room. 

"Remember what I said about not divulging the future, Miss Granger," he reminded Hermione lightly. She nodded furiously in acknowledgement.

"I must also remind you, Mr Lupin not to disclose any information about our guest to your friends, or any others at that rate." It was Remus's turn to nod. He gave Dumbledore an odd look, before he closed the door and left the two of them there. 

"So…" began Hermione nervously. She stood, observing the younger version of Remus Lupin. He had the same light brown hair, and deep blue eyes that she remembered, yet there was no trace of grey in his hair and his face was alive and bright; not bearing the hollow rings around his eyes that would appear in later years. Hermione felt a twinge of guilt that this boy here would have to face so much pain in the future, and it hurt her even more to know that she could never actually prevent it from happening.

Remus surveyed the girl in front of him nervously. He was not used to talking to girls – at least, not ones he actually liked. The only seventh year girls in Griffindor were Lily Evans, who was dating his friend James, Frances and Kate, who still blamed him for setting a flaming firecracker off, beneath their chairs in class, even though it had been Sirius. 

"Right, um what level were you up to in DADA?" Remus asked conversationally. He swung his bag off his back and began to pull out a large textbook. 

"Oh, no I don't suppose you'd be on to grade seven yet," he muttered. Hermione, who had finally stopped looking flustered, took the book from his hands carefully and studied a few pages before handing it back. 

"I think I read this book last summer," she said distractedly, "I got it out from the library." She stopped, about to add that it was he, who had recommended it to her.

Remus stood frozen for a moment, before realising that he was staring at her. 

"Oh, ok…" he said, impressed. He doubted that even Severus had read that far ahead.

"So," he said, sitting down on one of the sofas, "Where exactly have you come from?" 

Hermione surveyed him carefully for a moment, unsure of how much she was allowed to disclose. Dumbledore had warned her not to mention any events or people from the future, but…

"Hogwarts." She answered simply. 

Remus looked at her wide-eyed. "Really…So you're in the sixth year?" he added as an after-thought, remembering what Dumbledore had said. Hermione was wringing her hands nervously. 

"So Professor Lu…" Hermione threw a hand over her mouth, wide-eyed. "Sorry…I'm getting confused. I think it's some kind of after effect…" she added, trailing off. Remus, however, didn't seem to make anything of her mistake. Hermione composed herself once more and carried on as if nothing had happened. 

"So…Um, what house are you in?" she asked casually, although she already knew the answer. Remus however seemed glad for the change of subject. 

"Oh, I'm in Griffindor," he answered proudly, "With James, Sirius and Peter," he added, listing his closest friends. 

Hermione eyes widened like saucers at the mention of Sirius's name. She had known that he must have been here, but she could scarcely believe it all the same. Having recovered from the shock of meeting Remus Lupin, she desperately wanted to see Sirius Black alive and well, however she knew that it was unlikely due to the circumstances. 

"So, what about you? Assuming you still have houses, of course…" Remus asked, stretching his legs out across the coffee table. 

"I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to say." Hermione threw him an apologetic glance, but he shrugged it off. 

"Ok then, back to business," he concluded quickly, pulling several other textbooks from his bag. Hermione glanced at the covers, recognising each one. 

"I've read those too," she muttered under her breath. She had a creeping feeling that Professor Lupin had already known this when he had taught their class in the third year. 

Remus however, now simply looked up at her. "Are you serious?"

Hermione nodded, her cheeks burning. 

"Only briefly, and I can't really perform many of the spells in them," she added hurriedly, at his raised eyebrows. 

She took a seat next to Remus, whilst he checked his watch.

"Um, I only have another half hour 'til dinner," he said regretfully. "We can just talk until then." He added. 

Hermione starting rummaging around in her own school bag, trying to shift the knowledge that the boy sat next to her, was actually her professor. 

Remus, himself, was also shifting in his seat nervously, trying to play it cool. It had been a long time, since he had really _liked_ a girl and he had the uncomfortable feeling that now was one of those times. 

Admittedly, he had been with his fair share of girls, as part of the marauders, but they were usually the ones he didn't care too much for. It avoided getting into awkward situations about his monthly antics. No girl in her right mind would want to actually date a werewolf, he thought bitterly.

For a few moments, he sat, unconsciously staring at the chestnut brown hair cascading down Hermione's back, as she bent over her bag and finally withdrew a book. He noted with some satisfaction that it was a grade 6 book – one he had covered the previous year.

"Well, I've kind of been through this already, but we were studying some of the spells from it in class at the moment." She said by way of explanation. 

Remus shifted his weight on the chair slightly, as Hermione moved closer to show him the book; too close for Remus to feel comfortable. He had the vague sensation of the hairs on the back of his neck beginning to tingle. The warmth of her body next to his was palpable and distracting, and it was making it very difficult to take note of what Hermione was now saying. 

Finally realising that he was being handed the book he took it, flicking through the pages. 

"Yeah, we've done most of this stuff already," he heard himself saying. Hermione looked pleased at this and rewarded him with a smile, which was quickly replaced by a frown. 

"When exactly, should we meet?" She asked, in a business like tone. Remus suddenly choked and tried to suppress his panic, before realising that she was referring to her studies. 

"Well," he stumbled, "I guess Friday's would be alright...Sirius and James are generally busy then." He refrained from mentioning exactly what Sirius and James were busy _doing_ then.

"Sure, I can't exactly _go_ anywhere between now and then, anyway," Hermione added, aggrieved. At this, Remus stood up, apparently battling with an inner conflict. 

"See you Friday," he said eventually, and left Hermione staring confusedly after him. 

* * *

"Remus! Where've you been?" James called loudly across the Griffindor table. Remus tried to shrug off the feeling that his friends weren't going to be too pleased with his answer.

"Arithmancy…Dumbledore wants me to take Arithmancy," he repeated more confidently, with what he hoped was a casual shrug. Unfortunately, James didn't seem to think that this was a good idea at all. 

"I hope you told him where to get off then!" He answered, laughing. He gave his friend an odd look, when he received no reply. "You agreed, didn't you?" he said.

"I didn't have much choice," Remus growled, under his breath. James remained unperturbed, by this, however Sirius was eyeing Remus with a mixture of shock and distaste; his fork was raised halfway towards his mouth. 

"When?" he asked simply. Remus could see that he was digging himself an even bigger hole. 

"Friday." Sirius's face fell.

"What about Severus?" He shot a look across the table and lowered his voice. "What about the _Marauders_? You _know_ what we have planned for next Friday." Remus feigned an apologetic shrug. He failed to mention that this was the exact reason he had chosen Friday. He didn't care that James and Sirius broke all the school rules, but he rarely actually bothered getting himself involved. Sirius however just gave him a look of exasperation. 

"You do realise we're going to have to use Peter now?" He said, trying to lay on the guilt. "I mean, Wormtail's helpful enough, but I just don't think he has the brains to keep us out of trouble," he mumbled.

It took Remus a while to realise that James had long since disappeared from the conversation. He had obviously been distracted by the appearance of his girlfriend entering the lunch hall, and Sirius, noticing this too, decided to drop it as well. 

* * *

It was a dark Friday evening when Remus arrived to give Hermione her first tutoring session. He had dug up several other books from the library in the hope that there would be some work Hermione hadn't covered, but he still couldn't understand why she needed extra tutoring if she was already so far ahead. He decided to take this up with her later. 

Remus knocked carefully on her door, glancing at his watch and hoping that she wasn't taking a shower or busy, however he needn't have worried because Hermione answered the door almost immediately, and stood aside to let him in.

"Hi, I brought a few other books we could use," he said, slinging his bag off his back. It vaguely occurred to him, that he would never usually bother going to so much trouble for anyone, but brushed the thought aside. He looked up to face Hermione, who was wearing a low slung skirt and top.

"Do you not wear robes?" Remus asked. He watched Hermione's face crease up slightly. 

"Yes, usually. I had to take it off though. It has my house badge on and people might get suspicious," she said by way of explanation.

Remus stood, unconsciously staring at her for a few moments, and felt the slightest disappointment when Hermione sat on the chair and began pulling out schoolbooks. Unusually so, he had not yet begun his own homework for the week and had the sinking feeling that most of his weekend would now be taken up by it. 

He took a seat next to Hermione, trying desperately hard not to move too close. She had already found a page in her book and began asking him about it. 

"It would be better if I could show you how to perform it," he said eventually, furrowing his eyebrows at the spell. Hermione nodded warily, obviously wondering how Remus could perform such a spell, when there was nothing to practice on. 

"I guess we could try one of the house-elves," he suggested reasonably. He watched as Hermione's frown suddenly dissolved into anger.

"You can't do that!" she burst out, shocked.

Remus, confused by her reaction, continued, "Me and James do it all the time. It doesn't hurt them at all," he added quickly. 

Hermione, however, shook her head vigorously. Instead, she took a sheet of parchment from her bag, along with a quill and began writing down the information Remus had told her earlier. 

Remus sat watching her for a moment. He moved over, to see what she was writing and took a deep breath of her perfume. It reminded him of last summer he had spent down by the lake. He'd been with another girl then. Emma, he thought, remembering distantly the girl James had set him up with. She had been very pretty, but not the sort of girl he was into. Especially not after she found out about his 'dirty little secret', as Sirius kept jokingly reminding him. 

Very few people wanted to be associated with a werewolf, and he guessed that she was probably equally as bitter about the trouble it had all caused. After she found out, she had been forced to promise not to tell anyone about it. 

After a while, Hermione looked up, and seeing Remus's dazed look, smiled.

"Are you ok?" she asked gently. "Sorry if I'm taking up your time," she added, concerned. He caught her eye and faltered, not wanting her to know what he had just been thinking. 

"No…No, it's no problem," he finished. "I guess I'm just tired. I was just thinking how much homework I'm gonna have to do tomorrow." She seemed to turn this over for a short moment. 

"What homework is that?" she asked, interested. 

"Um…Potions, History of magic and Transfiguration," he answered, ticking them off his fingers. 

"Right, well can I help?" she asked slowly. She usually insisted on people learning things for themselves, but she felt slightly guilty that Remus had taken up his own time to tutor her already. 

By the time they had both finished, it was closing in on nine o'clock and Remus had completed both his History of magic essay, as well as the Potions one. 

Noticing the time, Remus stood up and shoved his books into his bag. 

"Look, thanks for helping," he said, looking up into Hermione's soft brown eyes. She merely smiled at him. 

"It's ok, I usually end up having to help out Ro…" she clamped her hand swiftly over her mouth again. "Sorry; I didn't mean to say that," she amended, going quiet. Remus stood up straight and felt distinctly uncomfortable as a wave of emotions, very awkward for a seventeen-year-old of an animalistic nature, to control, swept through him. Her perfume had, once more reached him, as if warning him of the situation. Hermione looked almost equally confused, but remained silent. Carefully, almost feverently, he reached and put a hand on her cheek. 

He was briefly aware that he barely knew this girl, and it vaguely occurred to him that he didn't give a damn. He leant forwards slowly, feeling Hermione oblige, but at the last moment she jerked her chin from his hand. 

"I can't do this," she mumbled, her eyes wide at the thought. She was about to add something about him being her teacher, but realised that she couldn't under the circumstances. Remus stared at her dumbstruck, mentally kicking himself at giving way to his feelings far too easily. He had placed himself in a dangerous a situation, and coming back to his senses, he knew that it could never happen again. Hermione made him too open and vulnerable. 

"I'm sorry," he said simply, "It won't happen again." And with that, he picked up his bag and left.


	2. Neptune

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Remus/Hermione - 17 year old Remus knows he can't risk falling in love; but when he does, is he just going to throw it all away and let Severus move in on the girl he likes?

Chapter 2

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By Lil Blu Firefly

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I wish I had a different star, I wish I had a different set of words. – Neptune, Inme

Remus Lupin found himself walking down the corridor to Dumbledore's office, for the second time that week. Hands shoved in his pockets he was going over what had happened the previous day; or rather what had _not_ happened. It was still bothering him that Hermione had backed out at the last minute, and even more so why he had let himself get so carried away in the first place. The only time he ever went for girls tended to be under the watchful eye of the Marauders, and even then it was usually under the influence of spirits. He had _never_ made a move on a girl he really liked.

Realising that he had reached the door of Dumbledore's office, he took a breath and knocked loudly, entering on request.

"Ah, Mr Lupin, I was wondering when I might expect you back." 

Remus looked up confidently at the headmaster, who was watching him patiently; sure of exactly what he needed to do. 

"I'm sorry sir, but I was wondering if it was at all possible for someone else to tutor Herm…Miss Granger. You said that you knew of somebody other than me, who could do the job," he said quickly. Dumbledore showed no trace of surprise at this statement, but simply surveyed Remus over his glasses. 

"Hmm…Are you quite sure of your decision? It is not affecting your own studies I hope" Dumbledore, asked. Remus felt himself falter for a moment.

"Yes Sir I'm sure." The headmaster sighed lightly, and studied his interlocked fingers. 

"Very well then, I shall arrange for a different tutor," Dumbledore answered, his face remaining expressionless. "However I fear that he may not be so well suited to our guest," he added, more to himself, than to Remus. 

After being dismissed, Remus left and heaved a sigh of relief, and walked down to the Griffindor common room with purpose, convincing himself that he had done the right thing.

* * * 

When he finally reached the common room, he found James, Sirius and Peter all sitting in a corner, whispering conspiratorially. Seeing him, James beckoned across with a dangerous glint, Remus knew all too well, in his eye. 

"Hey," Remus said, unenthusiastically. James glanced around the room, winked at two girls on the other side of the room, and lowered his voice. 

"This Friday, we got a good 'un planned. Me, Padfoot, Wormtail," he added. Remus didn't like the sound of it, but, as James well knew, his wolfish instinct fed his interest into what they had planned.

"Not that you'd care anyway," James said slyly, "Arithmancy, wasn't it?" and with a practised wave, he immersed himself back in the conversation, leaving Remus to fight a self battle over whether or not to let on about cancelling his lessons. Unfortunately, maybe, the more reckless side won, and he threw himself onto the couch with a sigh, while Sirius eyed him suspiciously. 

"Decided to join us have you?" he asked, glaring. Remus ignored him and appealed to James. 

"I cancelled. I ain't taking Arithmancy. It sucks." He said, throwing his legs up onto the table. James raised his eyebrows, but continued with what he was saying. 

"Ok then, we'll use Moony instead now he's here." Peter threw him a look of distaste.

"This Friday. It's Hogsmead the day after; I doubt poor little Snivellus will be able to go. He'll smell so bad by then, they'll be locking him in his room." James said laughing. Remus glanced up, unsure what to make of this. 

James pulled out a dark blue bottle out of his pocket and slammed it onto the table. 

"Where'd you get that?" Sirius asked. James shrugged.

"Nicked it from the store cupboard," he said casually.

Sirius whistled. "I'll bet Filch is having a ball."

"Anyway, What'dya say Moony? This Friday, after dinner." James said, stretching his arms across the back of the sofa and grinning wryly at Remus. "Just be there to back us up. We'll be ready with a couple of hexes…" Both he and Remus knew that he'd say yes. He always did, so long as he wasn't going to be too involved. Remus nodded and James lowered his voice once more. "Just don't mention any of this to Lily ok? She's got her _principals_ and all that – I don't think she'll be too impressed." 

* * *

Hermione finished brushing her teeth and unwrapped the towel she'd put her wet hair up in earlier. It was almost dry, so she left it how it was. Instead, she decided to get her books out and study for a while until Remus turned up for her tutoring, but halfway there, there was a knock at the door. Figuring that Remus must have chosen to skip dinner, she straightened her shirt and went to answer it. When she finally opened the door, however, it wasn't Remus standing there, but a thin boy with messy, limp black hair and a scowl on his face.

"Sorry? Am I expecting you?" she asked, a little put out. The boy eyed her suspiciously and walked past her and into the room, setting the books he was carrying onto the table without speaking. Hermione spun around.

"No need to be rude!" she said smartly. The boy simply glared at her. 

"I didn't _choose_ to help you," he said bitterly. "Apparently I was the 'last option'." 

Hermione stood wide-eyed and confused by this comment. She studied him a moment. "What about Prof…the other person who was supposed to be tutoring me?" she altered hastily, unsure of whether this boy had been aware that Remus was teaching her. 

The boy didn't even bother to shrug, so Hermione took his silence to mean that Remus wouldn't be coming. 

"So…I don't mean to be rude but who exactly _are_ you?" Hermione said, walking over to the sofa. She had meant to sit next to him, but after glancing at his greasy hair, she chose a seat opposite. 

"Severus," he growled, opening one of the books hastily. Hermione's mouth dropped open, and it took her a while before she realised that she was staring. Now that she was positioned in front of him, she could see the resemblance almost immediately. The only difference was his size. This boy was considerably thinner, and more pallid than the potions master she knew and had fewer crease lines across his forehead. However, he still bore the same pointed nose and lank, oily hair. 

"Right, well I'm Hermione," she said conversationally. 

"I know." 

Hermione glanced at the book he had open in front of him. It was obviously quite old and equally obviously from the restricted section of the library. The boy's face seemed to open up considerably as he became further absorbed into the book. Eventually, he dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out a small see-through box with what looked like woodlice inside. He then placed them on the table and began muttering incantations under his breath. 

Hermione, slightly perturbed by this and convinced that his wand was pointed straight at her, stood up abruptly and sat on the same side of the sofa he was (and as far away as possible) on the pretext of reading the text book. She pulled it closer, and upon realising that he wasn't going to stop her, put it on her lap. 

"Um…Which one of these are you using?" she asked, furrowing her brow. 

She looked up to see Snape's face creased up in concentration, apparently oblivious to everything else in the room. 

"_Sanguis!" _ He shouted, pointing his wand directly at the table. Hermione let out a squeal of horror as the woodlouse in front of them suddenly burst open and sprayed blood across the table. Snape, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed by this and allowed himself a small smile in accomplishment. 

"That was cruel!" Hermione said distastefully. For the first time since he'd walked into the room, Snape turned round and looked at her. 

"It's a complex spell. It needs practice." He said by way of explanation. It took Hermione a moment or so, to realise that Severus was staring at her. 

"Try it." He said simply. He was looking at her oddly through a mass of straggly black hair, and Hermione was shocked to see that there wasn't a trace of anger or sarcasm on his face. 

"I'm not using one of those," she said, nodding towards the woodlice. "How would you like it if I burst you open like that right now?" she asked loudly. Severus glared at her; the look of suspicion and hatred crept back onto face as if she had actually threatened him. 

"Suit yourself." He replied, eyes wild. He took another woodlouse from the jar and performed the same spell on it once more. The creature burst open in a spray of crimson, which covered the carpet.

"Stop that!" Hermione reached across and grabbed his wand arm. She lowered her voice. "Please don't." He looked shocked for a moment, and did as he was told, until eventually a scowl stretched across his features.

"You won't learn anything unless you put it into practice." He muttered, sitting back down in a jerky motion. Hermione sighed loudly and pointed to the book. 

"You can do these?" she asked interested.

"So what if I can?" he challenged, not looking. Hermione mulled over what to say, choosing her words carefully. "You must be pretty good at Defence then," she observed. This time, he did shrug. "Apparently _not_." He said, but didn't elaborate.

"So, Snape," she began, about to change the subject, but realised her mistake.

Severus's head snapped up, his eyes full of suspicion. "How did you know that?…You're a Seer!" he accused, standing up and pointing a bony finger at her. "I knew there was a reason Dumbledore was keeping you out of the way!" 

Hermione remained deadly calm, but raised her eyebrows at the last comment. The headmaster had obviously not told him any more than was necessary, unlike Remus. Slowly she looked up at him and nodded towards the table. 

"It says it on the front of your book." Sure enough, the words Severus Snape were printed in scrawled handwriting across the top of the book cover. Severus glared at this temporarily, before sinking into his chair. If Hermione hadn't known better of her potions master, she would have said that he was sulking. Hermione considered what to say.

"How can you not be good at Defence, if you can perform spells like this," she gestured to the books. "These are beyond NEWT level!"

Severus was apparently having a self-struggle over his answer, and eventually gave in."

"The professor's _afraid_." He spat the words out. "He says I have an 'unhealthy' obsession with the Dark Arts." He added darkly, slumping into his chair. Although this was the same Snape, that Hermione would come to hate in 'later' years, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Severus. She knew that _she_ wouldn't like it if she had no friends to fall back on and teachers who discouraged her studying. 

"If it makes you feel any better," she said, "Everyone at my school thinks I'm a swot."

Severus stared at her, but eventually raised his eyebrows.

"Are you?" he asked, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. She sighed.

"I just want to do well. I'm only going to take my NEWTs once, and I don't want to mess them up." Severus watched her through a mop of jet-black hair, deep in thought. 

"When I received an 'O' in my Defence OWL, my Professor hated me." He growled, more as a statement, than in answer to Hermione's comment. 

The word 'misunderstood' hung ironically in the silence that stretched between them, until they both resumed studying. 

* * *

"Don't be thick Wormtail," James muttered, "we know exactly where Snape'll be." He waved the Marauder's map in front of Peter's face as if to make it doubly clear what he meant.

"Shouldn't we maybe wait a while – make sure it's clear?" Remus asked, putting on a casual voice. Sirius shot him a look, as if he thought Remus might be trying to back out. 

"If you don't want to do it Moony, we can always put Wormtail in your place," he growled. "At least Peter doesn't complain."

"Are you two quite finished?" James asked patiently, as he climbed through the portrait hole. "Because, if you hadn't noticed, _we're going now_."

Sirius threw Remus a finally look of warning before he stepped out after James. 

Outside in the corridor, James reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of parchment, tapping it with his wand.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._" The parchment opened to reveal several black spots across it's front. 

"He's on the third floor," James mumbled. "He's not moving yet."

Remus stood wide-eyed, finally figuring out whom Dumbledore had been talking about. The third floor was where the room of requirement sat. That meant that Snape had been giving Hermione lessons, instead of him. 

"Oh great," Remus muttered, putting his head in his hands.

"What's up with you now?" Sirius hissed. Remus glanced up, not realising he had spoken out loud. 

"Nothing…It's just I think that Filch hangs around the third floor on a Friday," he made up quickly, "Something to do with one of the store rooms."

James bent over the map once more. 

"Nope. Filch is on the ground floor mate. It's all clear." He took the invisibility cloak from Peter.

"Ok, here's what we do. You two," he gestured to Remus and Sirius. "Go under the cloak when we get nearer, then we split up. Wormtail, you hide behind one of the statues out of the way and keep watch – we can't have the map open all the time." 

The four boys traipsed up a set of stairs and down the corridor, headed towards the black dot marked Snape. 

* * *

Hermione glanced at the clock and realised that it was almost nearing 9 o'clock; the time that all students had to be off the corridors. Severus had obviously noticed too, because he had started collecting his books together and shoving his quill into the pocket of his robes. 

"I'll be back next Friday." He muttered jerkily, standing up to leave. Hermione stood up too and followed him to the door.

"I'll show you out then," she replied out of politeness. Despite the fact that he was too self-absorbed and defensive, she decided that Severus simply needed someone to talk to and not just put him down all the time; which she figured must happen a lot, considering how unpopular he seemed – even as an adult. 

Carefully, she shut the door on Snape's receding back. 

* * * *


	3. Underdose

****

Chapter 3 – Ice Warm

__

By Lil Blu Firefly

I don't know what to do, Because something's killing me 

its all gone wrong, Its falling perfect fumes, Never meant to hurt you – Underdose, Inme  


James kicked Sirius hard in the shins.

"He's coming," James hissed under his breath, raising his wand arm steadily. 

Severus walked down the corridor briskly, his head down and his books shoved beneath his arm. As soon as he reached the suit of armour, James stepped out from behind it, and pointed his wand straight at Snape.

"_Sordidus_." He shouted. Severus, who had not been ready for this, screeched as the spell struck him squarely, causing him to falter and stumble backwards. 

"Didn't even put up a fight!" Sirius laughed, walking forwards with Remus, wands ready in case Severus retaliated. Snape's eyes were blazing as he scrambled to his feet, cursing. 

"You stupid boys! That curse could have killed him if it went wrong!"

All four boys stopped in their tracks and stared at the girl, who was standing red faced with her hands on her hips. 

"And I should have known that you'd be involved Lupin," she muttered bitterly, glaring at him. Striding forwards she mumbled the counter curse – a complex spell, which she wasn't supposed to know – and held out a hand to Snape, who, already having had his pride hurt once that night, refused. 

"And who are you?" James asked amusedly, regaining his composure. "Surely not our new Defence teacher?" Hermione glared at him too. 

"That," she said, "is none of your business, thank you…You must be James," she added, her tone lightening slightly. She ignored the look of shock and confusion on both his and Remus's faces and turned to leave, aware that she had put herself into deep waters already. 

As she was about to slam her door shut, she was vaguely aware of Severus muttering 'thanks' under his breath.

* * *

The boys remained silent, for a good ten seconds after Hermione had stormed off, and it was only broken by the sound of hurried footsteps along the third floor corridor.

"Filch is coming!" Peter hissed, rounding the corner. "And he's got McGonnagal with him!"

There was a sudden panic amongst them, where Severus scrambled to his feet and ran in the opposite direction, apparently towards the Slytherin common room. James and Sirius turned and ran full pelt towards the boys' toilets, Peter hid behind a suit of armour, and Remus rushed across the hallway and went through the doorway, which Hermione had, moments earlier. 

The main lights were off inside the room of requirement, and the place was only lit by a small lamp on a side table. Hermione, realising that someone had entered her room, spun around from her seat on the sofa.

"Remus! What on Earth do you…"

Lupin strode across the room in three strides and placed a warm hand firmly across her mouth. 

"McGonnagal," he mumbled into her ear, feeling her tense slightly.

They remained in that position for what seemed like an age, but was probably little more than a few minutes, until Remus eventually loosened his grip. 

"Sorry."

Now convinced that it was safe to talk, Hermione rounded on him. 

"What you did to Severus was wrong. He didn't deserve that…Besides, he was only giving me lessons because _somebody else wouldn't!"_ she added. 

Remus shot her a desperate look. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that." He muttered. "I had no choice," he added, more to himself than Hermione.

"I guess you had no choice in helping your friends to curse Snape as either?"

He didn't respond for a while. "No, I take full responsibility for that, but I swear I didn't intend on using my wand."

Hermione raised her eyebrows, unconvinced. Remus pulled out his wand, exactly how he had been holding it before. 

"See?"

Hermione leant in, unsure at first exactly what he meant. 

"You were holding it back to front!" she exclaimed eventually, remembering the knot in the wood she had seen him holding previously. She creased her forehead. 

"Do you realise how dangerous that is?" she asked, concerned. Remus eyed her steadily.

"Yes."

Hermione sighed. 

"And I suppose you want to know why I couldn't tutor you, as well?" he asked recklessly. 

"Yes," she said simply, "try me."

The look on Remus's face reflected a look of self-conflict. He stared at Hermione briefly. 

"Because I didn't think that I'd be able to trust myself." 

Hermione frowned. 

"I couldn't trust myself not to…" He gestured towards Hermione, his eyes pleading with her to understand. Slowly she nodded. The expression of shock on her face was quickly dissolved. 

"Look, maybe I should explain…I won't blame you if you hate me afterwards." He added quickly. 

"You don't have to," Hermione whispered, guessing what he was about to tell her. She stood up to face him. 

"I…can't…it's…I'm a werewolf, ok. I turn into a carnivorous beast once a month – I'm a bloody animal." He said venomously, practically spitting the words. He had never directly told anyone like that before and he had never wanted to. 

He stared at Hermione defiantly, waiting for her to scream, or slap him or order him out, but she didn't. Only a small trickle of a frown crossed her features. 

"I know," she whispered calmly. "I already know." She extended her arm and held his wrist as if wanting to protect him. Remus was now breathing in shallow, hoarse breaths, exhausted by everything, which had happened that evening. He didn't ask her how, and didn't even try to make any assumptions. The girl standing in front of him knew exactly what he was, and she didn't seem afraid of him, or even disgusted. 

He watched her carefully, twisting his hand around into hers experimentally, waiting for her to flinch.

"You thought I'd hate you?" she said, matter-of-factly, finally understanding. "But you were only thinking about yourself, when you decided not to tutor me anymore." Hermione pulled her hand away. "You judged me, before you even knew me properly."

"I –" Remus began helplessly, unsure as to whether she was upset, or even angry with him, but she kept her eyes firmly locked on his.

"I – didn't trust myself not to get carried away. Sometimes…Sometimes, I can't help myself. I just do things instinctively." He finished, glad that the darkness hid his face. 

Hermione reached over and placed a warm finger across his lips.

"I trust you." She said simply.

This time, when Remus leant forwards, Hermione didn't pull away. 

* * * 

AN: Third chapter – Sorry it's a little shorter than the others! I'm having fun writing this fic at the moment - changing the setting in the next chapters. There will be a bit more about Snape later on, and it's going to be really tough going for Remus (Sorry!) Please Review?! Any other ideas on the plot line would be cool too! Thanks – Kim x 


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